Living room view to the dining room at Proper Terrace Penthouse condo. Dining table by BDDW. Chairs by Caste Design. Five handblown glass pendant shades designed by Cravotta Interiors suspended in a row above the table.

Guest bedroom at Proper Pied-à-Terre condo. Shaker style wood bed and floating steel nightstand designed by Cravotta Interiors.
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This space needed simple accessories and wall art for completion. Three pillar holders were used on the dining table so the beauty of the table would not be covered. Wall art was utilized to add personality and interest to the room. With three large walls in the dining room, it was important to find the proper pieces to bring life into the room.

Entry at Proper Terrace Penthouse condo in the Austin Proper Hotel. Custom wide plank white oak flooring. Handmade textured plaster wallcovering. New construction fully remodeled by Cravotta.

The small home office is tucked off of the entry but allows for a quite space to get work done.
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Built in the iconic neighborhood of Mount Curve, just blocks from the lakes, Walker Art Museum, and restaurants, this is city living at its best. Myrtle House is a design-build collaboration with Hage Homes and Regarding Design with expertise in Southern-inspired architecture and gracious interiors. With a charming Tudor exterior and modern interior layout, this house is perfect for all ages.

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Living Room with 15' ceilings and Kitchen with 9' ceilings. White Oak floors.
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Dania Bagia Photography In 2014, when new owners purchased one of the grand, 19th-century "summer cottages" that grace historic North Broadway in Saratoga Springs, Old Saratoga Restorations was already intimately acquainted with it. Year after year, the previous owner had hired OSR to work on one carefully planned restoration project after another. What had not been dealt with in the previous restoration projects was the Eliza Doolittle of a garage tucked behind the stately home. Under its dingy aluminum siding and electric bay door was a proper Victorian carriage house. The new family saw both the charm and potential of the building and asked OSR to turn the building into a single family home. The project was granted an Adaptive Reuse Award in 2015 by the Saratoga Springs Historic Preservation Foundation for the project. Upon accepting the award, the owner said, “the house is similar to a geode, historic on the outside, but shiny and new on the inside.”

Photography by Richard Mandelkorn
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Originally designed by one of the most notable landscape architects in town, this once impressive project had faltered in recent years. The pool and spa still functioned well, and the client wanted to keep it intact. In addition, they wanted to keep as much of the existing landscaping as possible. The surrounding decks, walls, and steps were fair game. At first glance, one might think that our changes were simple material changes. Upon closer inspection, however, one can see the subtle, yet transformative changes that come together to update this classic pool in a tasteful, timeless manner, and improve the flow and usability of the deck areas, while softening the feel of the massive hardscape. The subtle changes begin as soon as you walk out the back door of the house. The existing decking had a lot of what we call “tweeners”; areas that are overly generous walkways, yet not large enough to house furniture. The awkwardly small bluestone patio was expanded to accommodate a generous seating area, by pushing the step-down closer to the pool. Our talented stone mason carefully married the new bluestone into the existing, resulting in an imperceptible difference between the two. As you descend the new bluestone steps to the pool level, your bare feet will be thankful for the new smooth-finished limestone colored concrete, with a hand cut pattern carefully etched into its surface. The old red brick decking was so hot that the owners could not walk around the pool in bare feet. The brick coping was also replaced with an eased edge Pennsylvania Premier Stone which matches the new step treads throughout the project. Between the house and the pool, a large raised planter was reconfigured, giving additional space to the pool deck for a shaded lounge chair area. Across the pool, a bank of rather tall painted brick retaining walls were cut down, shortened, and moved. This lessened the visual impact of the walls, which were rather overwhelming in the space, as well as opening up a new seating area, nestled under the arms of the massive pecan at the back of the property. Rather than continuing solid decking around the entire pool, the area near these walls has been transformed to large stone stepper pads set in a sea of beautiful St. Augustine lawn. This creates a visually softened area that is still suited to setting tables and chairs when the guest list calls for additional seating. The spa area is quite possibly the most dramatic change on this project. Yet more raised planter walls divided this area into awkward spaces, unsuited to proper furniture placement. The planters were removed, new stone decks, once again expertly married into the existing, opening the area to house a large dining table and new built in bbq area. The spa itself was re-imagined with the bluestone coping, and painted brick veneer. The most impressive addition though is the new handmade glazed tiles that surround the existing cast stone water feature. This water feature was almost unnoticeable against the painted brick wall, but now the dramatic arch and pop of color draw the eye to this quaint little corner of the property.

  Download our free ebook, Creating the Ideal Kitchen. DOWNLOAD NOW   This client was referred to us from a past client. They are a busy 2-career household with young children and enjoy entertaining friends and family in their home. They have a beautiful open concept home but unfortunately the kitchen was not fitting for the rest of the home. They were not quite sure what to do with the space. We talked about trying to refresh it or do more of a minor remodel, but in the end they decided a full gut would get them to where they wanted to be. One problem was there was no place for guests to hang out other than the large and awkward banquette area. The brick wall and tiled hood area were feeling a bit dated and tired. The space was just not functional for their lifestyle. There was no prep space near the cooktop and no landing area for items coming out of the ovens or refrigerator, plus a big dead zone in the center of the room. Banquettes, like the one they previously had in the space, are great for small spaces, but when they get really large like this one, it makes getting in and out of the seating area awkward and uncomfortable. Plus, there was room for a large table, so we eliminated the awkward built in. We started by removing the faux brick wall between the kitchen and back entry. We relocated the entry to the garage over a couple feet in order to get every last inch out of the new kitchen. We also made the decision to close up the primary window that faced the pretty ho hum brick wall of the neighbor’s house. There was plenty of light coming in from the seating area, so we just didn’t feel the window was adding much to the room. Construction went smoothy. There was a bit of rework with electrical, flooring and HVAC, but in the end, we think it was well worth it. The clients really wanted a sleek contemporary look, and we originally had planned for a full height slab backsplash, but due to it’s size, it was a budget buster. Instead, we got creative and settled on large format porcelain tiles that have a similar feel but were a fraction of the cost. We made sure the wall was plumb and level so that the fit and finish would mimic that of slab material. The final space was quite a change. A large prep sink sits directly across from the new pro-style range with plenty additional prep space on the large island. The refrigerator and ovens now have miles of landing space, and a nice tight work triangle makes cooking a breeze. Since we wanted a more contemporary feel, not many wall cabinets were included. Instead, we outfitted some of the drawers for dish storage with a peg system. Two large pantries flanking the refrigerator hold baking supplies and small appliances. Large drawers by the cooktop hold pots and pans, and an appliance garage tucked away to the left of the range hides away miscellaneous items. The large island also houses a microwave drawer and tons of storage, most of which is drawers offering maximum convenience. The island now seats 5-6 people comfortably along with the new table in the seating area which can seat up to 8. Entertaining will be a breeze in this space. With such a clean backdrop, we knew we would need some drama with the lighting, so we chose two sets of staggered pendants, which we adjusted for the right visual balance above the island. We also included a small coffee station to the right of the main kitchen, which helps keep the coffee clutter out of the kitchen proper. Two tones of complimentary gray are featured in this kitchen. The perimeter is a light gray that reads almost white. The island is a gray stain that adds some depth and interest with the visible wood texture. The countertops are clean white quartz, and the hardware, barstools and light fixtures add warm brass tones. I see lots of cooking and entertaining with family and friends in the near future in this bright and airy new space. Designed by: Susan Klimala, CKD, CBD Photography by: Michael Kaskel For more information on kitchen and bath design ideas go to: www.kitchenstudio-ge.com

Photo: Margot Hartford © 2014 Houzz
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The path to the outdoor deck cuts between the nook and the kitchen proper. You can see the built-in broom closet against the right wall. A freestanding Simple Human trash can is nestled between the pantry cabinet and the patio door. The patio door and a variety of recessed cans, undercabinet LEDs, ceiling fan, and chandelier over the table provide good light. Photo by Ellene Newman

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